TV Stand

I have a new Sony XBR 50 coming next week and am wondering about the stand I will put it on. I have read that ideal heighth is so the middle of the screen is eye level when sitting. I am wondering what heighth others have the Sony at? How tall is your stand? I do not want a Sony stand but more of a nice wood stand but so far the ones I am finding that are the right size are over 2 grand. I think the Sony viewing angle is pretty good so not sure there will be much difference in an 18 in stand or 30 inch stand but was curious.

I would also consider where your speakers are going to be placed, especially the center channel.

All too often I see speaker placement take a back seat to asthetics. The center channel is too close to the floor or too far away frome the screen. Speakers are placed inside entertainment centers,inside cabinets, or up against walls with no thought as to what is best acoustically. The previous positions described ruin the acoustical attributes of speakers not designed for this use turning the bass muddy in the mid range and boomy at lower frequencies.

I would try to keep the tweeters of all your front speakers at the same height. Placing the TV lower to accomplish this is a good idea.

Thanks for the response, I realize lower is going to better for most everything. But at this point I am really more asking and concerned about how the picture will look if the TV is on a 18in vs. 30in stand based on users who have the Sony TV.